Wimbledon's draw puts Alcaraz against Fognini in the first round. Coco Gauff faces Yastremska

LONDON (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz will begin his bid for a third consecutive Wimbledon championship and put his career-best 18-match winning streak on the line by facing the volatile Fabio Fognini in the first round at Centre Court when the tournament begins Monday.

The singles brackets for the grass-court Grand Slam tournament were set in Friday's draw, including potential men's quarterfinals of No. 1 Jannik Sinner against No. 7 Lorenzo Musetti, No. 4 Jack Draper against No. 6 Novak Djokovic — who has won seven of his 24 major trophies at the All England Club — No. 2 Alcaraz against No. 8 Holger Rune, and No. 3 Alexander Zverev against No. 5 Taylor Fritz.

The possible women’s quarterfinals are No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka vs. No. 6 Madison Keys, and No. 4 Jasmine Paolini vs. No. 5 Zheng Qinwen in the top half, and No. 2 Coco Gauff vs. No. 8 Iga Swiatek or 2022 champion Elena Rybakina, and No. 3 Jessica Pegula vs. No. 7 Mirra Andreeva in the bottom half.

In addition to Sinner, Djokovic, Draper and 2024 semifinalist Musetti, the top half has No. 10 Ben Shelton and No. 13 Tommy Paul of the United States, along with Alexander Bublik, an unpredictable and underarm-serving player from Kazakhstan. He reached his first major quarterfinal at the French Open by defeating Draper — his potential third-round opponent next week — and then won a grass-court title at Halle, Germany, for the second time, beating Sinner along the way.

Alcaraz and Sinner could only meet at Wimbledon in the July 13 final, which would be rematch of their epic showdown for the French Open title won by the 22-year-old Alcaraz for his fifth major trophy.

In Fognini, Alcaraz faces a 38-year-old veteran who has been ranked as high as No. 9 and was a French Open quarterfinalist in 2011 but is currently No. 130 and never has been past the third round in 14 previous appearances at Wimbledon.

Fognini, who is married to 2015 U.S. Open champion Flavia Pennetta, has described himself as a hot-head and is known for mid-match flareups, including at Wimbledon, where he was fined $3,000 in 2019 for saying he wished “a bomb would explode at the club” during a third-round loss and a then-record $27,500 in 2014 for a series of outbursts during a first-round victory. He was put on a two-year probation by the Grand Slam Board in 2017 after insulting a female chair umpire at the U.S. Open and getting kicked out of that tournament.

Gauff, coming off her second major title at the French Open, will open Wimbledon on Tuesday against Dayana Yastremska, a 2024 Australian Open semifinalist.

Win that, and Gauff might face former No. 1 and two-time Australian Open champion Victoria Azarenka in the second round, while a rematch with No. 28 seed Sofia Kenin could await in the third. Kenin eliminated Gauff in the opening round at Wimbledon two years ago.

Sabalenka, the runner-up to Gauff at Roland-Garros three weeks ago, finds herself in an intriguing quarter of the women's bracket. Sabalenka, who owns three Slam titles, begins against Canadian qualifier Carson Branstine, and could meet 2024 Wimbledon quarterfinalist Lulu Sun in the second round and 2021 U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu or 2023 Wimbledon champion Marketa Vondrousova in the third.

Defending champion Barbora Krejcikova begins Tuesday's Centre Court schedule against Alexandra Eala, who is the first woman representing the Philippines to be ranked inside the top 100 and upset Swiatek on the way to reaching the Miami Open semifinals in March.

In their section of the draw, 2011 and 2014 Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova, who announced she will retire later this year, takes on No. 10 Emma Navarro in the first round.

Novak Djokovic of Serbia, right, and Carlos Alcaraz of Spain, left, arrive for a practice session on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Jannik Sinner of Italy plays a return to Daniil Medvedev of Russia during a practice session on Centre Court at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, Thursday, June 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus during a practice session at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships in London, Wednesday, June 25, 2025. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)

Coco Gauff of the U.S. hits a backhand during a practice session at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, ahead of the Wimbledon Championships, which begins on June 30th, in London, Monday June 23, 2025. (Adam Davy/PA via AP)

Italy's Fabio Fognini in action against Arthur Fery on day one of the Rothesay Open in Nottingham, England, Monday June 16, 2025. (Bradley Collyer/PA via AP)

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — U.S. President Donald Trump said Iran wants to negotiate with Washington after his threat to strike the Islamic Republic over its bloody crackdown on protesters, a move coming as activists said Monday the death toll in the nationwide demonstrations rose to at least 544.

Iran had no immediate reaction to the news, which came after the foreign minister of Oman — long an interlocutor between Washington and Tehran — traveled to Iran this weekend. It also remains unclear just what Iran could promise, particularly as Trump has set strict demands over its nuclear program and its ballistic missile arsenal, which Tehran insists is crucial for its national defense.

Meanwhile Monday, Iran called for pro-government demonstrators to head to the streets in support of the theocracy, a show of force after days of protests directly challenging the rule of 86-year-old Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian state television aired chants from the crowd, who shouted “Death to America!” and “Death to Israel!”

Trump and his national security team have been weighing a range of potential responses against Iran including cyberattacks and direct strikes by the U.S. or Israel, according to two people familiar with internal White House discussions who were not authorized to comment publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.

“The military is looking at it, and we’re looking at some very strong options,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday night. Asked about Iran’s threats of retaliation, he said: “If they do that, we will hit them at levels that they’ve never been hit before.”

Trump said that his administration was in talks to set up a meeting with Tehran, but cautioned that he may have to act first as reports of the death toll in Iran mount and the government continues to arrest protesters.

“I think they’re tired of being beat up by the United States,” Trump said. “Iran wants to negotiate.”

He added: “The meeting is being set up, but we may have to act because of what’s happening before the meeting. But a meeting is being set up. Iran called, they want to negotiate.”

Iran through country's parliamentary speaker warned Sunday that the U.S. military and Israel would be “legitimate targets” if America uses force to protect demonstrators.

More than 10,600 people also have been detained over the two weeks of protests, said the U.S.-based Human Rights Activists News Agency, which has been accurate in previous unrest in recent years and gave the death toll. It relies on supporters in Iran crosschecking information. It said 496 of the dead were protesters and 48 were with security forces.

With the internet down in Iran and phone lines cut off, gauging the demonstrations from abroad has grown more difficult. The Associated Press has been unable to independently assess the toll. Iran’s government has not offered overall casualty figures.

Those abroad fear the information blackout is emboldening hard-liners within Iran’s security services to launch a bloody crackdown. Protesters flooded the streets in the country’s capital and its second-largest city on Saturday night into Sunday morning. Online videos purported to show more demonstrations Sunday night into Monday, with a Tehran official acknowledging them in state media.

In Tehran, a witness told the AP that the streets of the capital empty at the sunset call to prayers each night. By the Isha, or nighttime prayer, the streets are deserted.

Part of that stems from the fear of getting caught in the crackdown. Police sent the public a text message that warned: “Given the presence of terrorist groups and armed individuals in some gatherings last night and their plans to cause death, and the firm decision to not tolerate any appeasement and to deal decisively with the rioters, families are strongly advised to take care of their youth and teenagers.”

Another text, which claimed to come from the intelligence arm of the paramilitary Revolutionary Guard, also directly warned people not to take part in demonstrations.

“Dear parents, in view of the enemy’s plan to increase the level of naked violence and the decision to kill people, ... refrain from being on the streets and gathering in places involved in violence, and inform your children about the consequences of cooperating with terrorist mercenaries, which is an example of treason against the country,” the text warned.

The witness spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity due to the ongoing crackdown.

The demonstrations began Dec. 28 over the collapse of the Iranian rial currency, which trades at over 1.4 million to $1, as the country’s economy is squeezed by international sanctions in part levied over its nuclear program. The protests intensified and grew into calls directly challenging Iran’s theocracy.

Nikhinson reported from aboard Air Force One.

In this frame grab from video obtained by the AP outside Iran, a masked demonstrator holds a picture of Iran's Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi during a protest in Tehran, Iran, Friday, January. 9, 2026. (UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran shows protesters taking to the streets despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026.(UGC via AP)

In this frame grab from footage circulating on social media from Iran showed protesters once again taking to the streets of Tehran despite an intensifying crackdown as the Islamic Republic remains cut off from the rest of the world in Tehran, Iran, Saturday Jan. 10, 2026. (UGC via AP)